Penalties, turnovers hurt U.Va. in 48-27 loss to Ball State

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Penalties and turnovers were the theme as the Virginia football team fell to 2-3 on the season with a 48-27 loss to Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State (5-1) in front of a sparse crowd of just 38,228 at Scott Stadium on Saturday.

It was the first meeting between the schools, and the visiting Cardinals made it one to remember with a strong second-half performance.

The Cardinals put up 506 total yards on the afternoon, including 346 through the air, and took advantage of Virginia miscues on numerous occasions.

U.Va. was outscored 31-10 in the second half, as three second-half Cavalier turnovers resulted in 17 points for the Cardinals. Additionally, Virginia committed a season-high 13 penalties for 93 yards, including two flags that wiped away potential touchdowns.

Virginia head coach Mike London called the collapse an embarrassment in front of the home crowd.

"Obviously, today we didn't play well," London said. "That's a good [Ball State] football team, I've got to give them credit. But you can't have that many penalties, you can't turn the ball over and you have to be able to stop the run and to put pressure on the QB. We didn't do a very good job today. We've got a lot of work to do and we have to take ownership."

The Cavaliers got on the board first with Richmond native Alec Vozenilek's first career field-goal attempt — a 39-yard boot that sailed through the uprights with 7:34 left in the opening quarter before Ball State's Jahwan Edwards cashed in from 3 yards out, giving the Cardinals a 7-3 advantage with six minutes left in the first.

It was the first of three touchdown runs on the day for Edwards.

U.Va. responded, as QB David Watford (Hampton High) hooked up with Tim Smith on the longest reception by a Cavalier wide receiver this season — a 46-yard strike on third-and-14, which got the Cavs down to the Cardinals' 2, setting up a Kevin Parks touchdown run to make it 10-7 Virginia with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter.

Virginia's defense came up with three consecutive big plays to halt the next Ball State drive: a David Dean sack, a Daquan Romero tackle for loss and a Brent Urban pass breakup (his seventh of the season) on third down forced a punt, and the offense capitalized.

After picking up three first downs in four plays on the next drive, Watford faked a handoff and found space, following his blockers down the left side of the field toward the end zone. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound former Crabber left his feet at the 3-yard line, clearing over a lunging Cardinals cornerback, Eric Patterson, in the process. Watford reached out for the pylon on what turned out to be the longest rush of his Cavaliers career.

The play originally was ruled down short of the goal line, but video review provided enough evidence to overturn the call and Virginia pushed its lead to 17-7 just 19 seconds into the second quarter.

Ball State marched quickly into Virginia territory and tacked on a field goal, then got the ball back after a punt and went 79 yards in 10 plays, tying the contest at 17 on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Keith Wenning to Willie Snead with 5:49 left until halftime.

The score remained knotted until a controversial Parks fumble translated into a 1-yard Wenning touchdown plunge with 11:26 left in the third quarter. This time, the video review appeared to show that Parks was down by contact before losing possession, but the call on the field was upheld amid a chorus of boos.

"We did not try to let [the call] affect us on offense," Watford said. "I thought [Parks] was down. K.P. said he was down. … He got it back, though, so that's all that matters."

U.Va. again answered back, going 85 yards in 11 plays — the final 10 via the ground — as Parks scored his second touchdown of the day and fifth of the season to tie it at 24 midway through the third.

The U.Va. defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop just outside the red zone on the ensuing drive, but gave it right back three plays later as Watford was picked off by Jeffery Garrett. Edwards went over the 100-yard mark two plays later on a 32-yard touchdown run that gave the Cardinals back the lead at 31-24.

On Virginia's next offensive play, Watford completed a pass to tight end Jake McGee, who fumbled while fighting for extra yardage, setting up Ball State just inside the U.Va. 40. That led to a 45-yard field goal by Scott Secor, and it was 34-24 Cardinals just eight seconds into the final quarter.

Watford went deep for Smith on the next play from scrimmage, and the catch was hauled in, in stride, and would have been good for a 79-yard touchdown and big momentum boost, but the Cavs were flagged for having an ineligible man downfield.

"That hurt me right there," Watford said of the penalty. "I was hoping it was against the defense."

U.Va. still managed to cut the lead to 34-27 on a 38-yard Vozenilek field goal with 10:41 left.

Wenning and the Cardinals slammed the door shut two plays later, as the senior signal caller became the school's all-time passing leader on a 72-yard strike down the U.Va. sideline to Jordan Williams to push the lead back to 14. Williams had 159 yards receiving, while Snead added 104. Wenning finished the game with 346 yards passing.

Virginia's final chance to get back in the game faded as Watford was sacked on fourth down with less than eight minutes left.

Edwards, who led the way with 155 yards rushing, put the icing on the cake with a 17-yard scoring run with 5:15 to go, and there were barely any Cavalier fans still left in their seats to witness it.

The Cavaliers finished with 459 yards of offense. Parks led the rushing attack with 104 yards and the two scores. Watford completed 21 of his 36 pass attempts for 209 yards and rushed for another 47, both are career highs. Henry Coley and Urban each had 10 tackles to lead the team.

Virginia travels to face Maryland next week in the final installment of a long-running ACC rivalry.